ARTERTON. Shines as a reluctant activist in the musical adaptation of “Made in Dagenham.”
Former Bond girl Gemma Arterton is a pleasant surprise in the musical staging of “Made in Dagenham,” about the labor-union strike of Ford’s female machinists who demanded equal pay for women in 1968. The strike resulted in the UK’s Equal Pay Act of 1970, which prohibits less favorable treatment between men and women in terms of pay and employment conditions.
After “Quantum of Solace,” the lovely actress was typecast in underwhelming sci-fi actioners and thrillers (“Hansel & Gretel,” “Prince of Persia,” “Byzantium”), but the screen-to-stage adaptation of “Dagenham” lets people see her in a different light.
As a reluctant activist, Arterton is unyielding but graceful—and, despite the play’s potentially lugubrious but ultimately illuminating subject matter, it’s great to see her singing and dancing on the Adelphi stage—clearly having the time of her life!
We also didn’t expect a lot from playwright Lee Hall’s stage version of “Shakespeare in Love,” based on John Madden’s Oscar Best Picture winner, starring Gwyneth Paltrow—but, we were blown away by the enthralling performances of Orlando James (as William Shakespeare) and Eve Ponsonby (the cross-dressing Viola de Lesseps), as well as director Declan Donnellan’s exuberant and truly inventive staging.
Set in 1593 during Queen Elizabeth I’s colorful reign, Hall’s rip-roaring screen-to-stage charmer tells the hilarious (and fictional) tale of how, with the help of Christopher Marlowe (Edward Franklin), the Bard of Avon came up with “Romeo and Juliet” and, later, “Twelfth Night”—during a rare bout with writer’s block!
At a time when marriage is considered a financial and political contract more than a romantic match, William finally finds his Muse when he falls in love with Lady Viola, who dresses up as a man to perform in Shakespeare’s all-male acting troupe—effectively evoking and vivifying the spirit of the Elizabethan fin de siècle!